Years ago I hiked a popular mountain in North Georgia. As I huffed and puffed my way along the sun soaked, leaf covered trail, sticks and leaves crunched beneath my feet. Somewhere along the way, my thoughts turned toward children.
Children are curious about everything.
If a child had been hiking with me that day, he probably would have stopped every few minutes to inspect a stick, pick up a rock, study a bug, or turn over a leaf. Everything would have been worth noticing.
Somewhere along the way, we lose that kind of curiosity.
As we grow older, life can teach us to think, I’ve seen that before. I’ve done that before. I’ve been there before.
When we stop expecting to see something new, we often stop seeing what is right in front of us.
That is a tragedy because curiosity creates expectation, and expectation opens our hearts to joy. Curiosity makes room for wonder. It reminds us that there is still something ahead of us that we have never experienced before.
It also reminds us that God is not limited by what we have already seen.
The Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
When we are curious, we live on the edge of the moment. We begin to wonder what might be around the next corner. We become willing to try something new. We become more open to the possibility that God may lead us somewhere we have never been.
Instead of thinking, Been there. Done that, we begin to think, God, I wonder what You are going to do next.
That kind of curiosity can change the way we approach faith.
Disappointments can slowly convince us that nothing will ever change. Failure can make us afraid to try again. Routine can make us forget that God is still at work.
If we allow those things to steal our curiosity, we can also lose our expectation. We may stop believing that God can use us to do something meaningful. We may stop believing that He can open a new door, answer a prayer, change a circumstance, or use our lives in ways we never imagined.
Jesus told His followers to become like little children. Children know how to wonder. They know how to ask questions. They expect to discover something new.
Maybe we need a little more of that in our walk with God.
Think about the God we worship. He created the earth and hung it on nothing (Job 26:7). He created laughter and tears, babies and hummingbirds, oceans and planets, dolphins and squirrels.
There is no end to His creativity.
There is always more of God to discover.
Toward the end of my hike, I rounded a curve and suddenly thought, What would you notice if you were curious?
I bent down and picked up a single leaf.
It was different from the leaves around it. Its color was a beautiful, vibrant red. I studied its shape and wondered, Wow, God! Are all the leaves different, like fingerprints?
For a moment, I simply marveled at Him.
And something wonderful happened inside me.
Faith grew.
All because I stopped long enough to notice the greatness of God in a tiny leaf.
Maybe there is something God wants you to notice today.
Look a little closer. Ask another question. Expect God to surprise you. Pay attention to the ordinary things around you.
You may discover that the God who created an entire universe is still revealing His greatness in the smallest details.
Prayer:
Lord, help me never lose my sense of wonder. Give me the curiosity of a child and the faith to believe that You are still doing things I have never seen before. Open my eyes to notice Your greatness in the ordinary moments of today. Amen.
Additional Resources
The Blueprint for Life eight week study is designed to help you live with intentionality and on purpose in five areas of your life:
- Spiritually
- Relationally
- Physically
- Financially
- and Career!
The eight week study contains audio messages featuring Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Tony Evans, John Maxwell and others. Now available for digital download. CLICK HERE to check it out!
